Nothing She Won't Give
by Misgiving Writer
Summary: Over time, Dreamhunter has done everything to save her Clan. Guided them through the fire, through the ashes, through the battles. Stuck with them when their leader had all but given up. And, in turn, they have devoted their lives to her. Only...She wishes that they hadn't.


A/N: First, I want to apologize to Dreamhunter. This was a ridiculously difficult song to work with, so yours did not meet the word requirement. As it is, I just couldn't manage to add anymore length to the story. Terribly sorry. To everyone else, this was written for the Warriors Challenge Forum (link in my profile, you should check it out). I had to write a story starring one of my forum members, and this one is for Dreamstar, otherwise known as Dreamhunter. It is written to the song Nothing I Won't Give, song by Vic Mignogna.

Enjoy!

* * *

Her name was Dreamhunter and she was once the deputy of PheonixClan. Once the cat to help lead her Clan from the ashes, to keep her Clan-mates moving after the devasting fire that ripped through the land they once called home, to stop them all from dieing there. Once, she was thought of as a hero.

_"Don't give up, Fernstar!" Dreamhunter yowls, and her voice seems to be swallowed by the thick air around her. It dulls both her voice and her mind, and the thick billows of ash that still circles around her makes it hard to breathe._

_Just slightly ahead of her, Fernstar has crouched down on the forest floor. Her pelt blends in nicely with the burnt leaves and the blackened shrubs, unlike the stark white of her deputy's. She is taking deep, rasping breaths and her entire body seems to be shaking._

_"I can't...I can't go any further, Dreamhunter." The leader rasps outs, and she turns wide green eyes on the other she-cat. "I can't..."_

_"Yes, you can!" Dreamhunter insists. She forces her own paws to move, trudging slowly through the thick coating of soot at her paws - trying hard to ignore the steady heat that still pulses from the underbrush. Determined, or maybe just desperate, she pushes her muzzle against the heaving flank of her leader. "You have too!"_

_Fernstar shakes her head. "I can't. Not anymore. Not now. There isn't any hope for us. PheonixClan...We are ruined, Dreamhunter, and we cannot be whole again."_

_Still, the deputy refuses to give in. "That's a lie, Fernstar, and you know it. We're stronger than that and as long as the Clan knows that you still have hope, they will still try to survive! Just have hope! At least pretend that you do, for the Clan if not for yourself!"_

Her name was Dreamhunter and, once, she was considered to be a saviour. As Fernstar slowly lost hope and lost her way, it was the white furred she-cat that took up control of her Clan. She did not recieve a proper name, did not recieve her lives, but she led them all the same.

_"Shadestream, take Fireleap with you and see if you can find any untouched moss. The elders and kits need water." Dreamhunter commands, ears twitching slightly in the direction of the singed nursury; it has been converted to hold both the oldest and the youngest cats in PheonixClan, as the elders den was destroyed in the blaze._

_The black she-cat across from her gives a slight nod, dissapearing without a word. Moments later, Dreamhunter catches sight of her and a ginger tom leaving camp._

_Water is a hard thing to come by right now. Rather, clean water is. Every pool, every stream, every puddle...All tainted by smog. All poisonous. _

Her name was Dreamhunter and, once, she thought herself worthy of such praise. She gave all she had for her Clan. Her life, her energy, her strength. Everything. So didn't that at least make her worthy of their respect? Didn't it at least make sense that, when they came to her saying rouges had invaded, they listened to her orders without question?

_"We'll fight." Dreamhunter says, and she tries hard to ignored the steady ache of hunger in her stomach and the harsh dryness of her throat. "We are PheonixClan, and we will not give in!"_

_Yowls follow her announcement - and not a single cat protests._

Now?

_"Don't retreat!" Dreamhunter yowls to her Clan-mates, ears flattening against her head. "Stand your ground!"_

_Around her, the battle rages. On both sides, cats are injured. Maimed. Killed. Her own body is riddled with wounds; blood staining her once light pelt, turning her just as dark as the field they fight in. Her hind-leg has long since gone numb, her throat long since begun to fill with blood._

_But she will not retreat, not now. Not when they have come so far!_

Now she wishes that her Clan had not followed her so whole-heartedly. She led them into a battle they could not win and now, nothing will ever be the same. But she has already paid the price and she refuses to let them pay too. Ever silently, she watches her Clan. Ever silently, she promises them that she will do whatever she can to save them.


End file.
